Native American Dance Tour

http://www.pittnews.com/arts-entertainment/american-indian-dance-colors-byham-1.1599022

American Indian dance colors Byham
Retaliating against current societal turmoil, the traditional dances of the Lakota Sioux aim to bring the tribal message of peace and balance to Pittsburgh.

Cokata Upo!, translated as “Come to the Center,” is being performed by the Lakota Sioux Dance Theater, which has thrived since 1978 on the support of Lakota American Indian community leaders, educators, powwow dancers, singers and storytellers who’ve passed down the culture of the people.

In line with its goal to keep the message of the original culture alive, Cokata Upo! is a showcase of Lakota culture through traditional dance.

“The dances are authentic — the dancers are all champion powwow dancers,” said director Henry Smith. Smith is one of the founders of the 30-year-old Lakota Dance Theatre Project.

The media for Cokata Upo! are quite varied. According to Smith, the show uses storytelling, dance, ritual, video imagery and video projections to tell the stories of the Lakota and Dakota tribes, and each section of the show is interspersed with various dances.

“Some dances are story dances. Others are vision dances. There are different categories, like fancy dance, traditional men and women’s, jingle dance and fancy women shawl dances. There are a lot of different plains [American] Indian dances in the piece,” said Smith.

In addition to knowing their steps in multiple stylized dances, the dancers each own their outfits — and it was made quite clear that they are not to be confused as anything except outfits.

“They aren’t wearing costumes — they’re outfits,” said Smith. “Each one is a design of the family. The colors would be specific to the dancer, and the pattern would be specific to the dancer and their family.”

For example, “Eagle feathers might show that he was a veteran and had been to war. They are symbolic of that dancer’s history,” said Smith.

The choreography of each dance varies from powerful stomps and marches to intricate movements of the feet and body. The 11 dancers also repeatedly focus on creating a circular pattern, which represents a sacred symbol in the Lakota culture as well as the highly regarded balance of life.

“The balance with nature involves unity with animal spirits,” said Smith. “That’s a concept of balance between nature. The outfits represent that — there are all kinds of animal dances, like horse and buffalo. There’s an eagle dance. That’s the connection demonstrated between people and nature.”

The stage promises to contribute to this overall balance between the people and their surroundings, as well.

“It’s a full show with lighting effects and fogs,” said Smith. “We don’t have a lot of props. It really tells the story through the drums, narrative, dances, and the flutes and the way they’re juxtaposed. It’s the way we build the effects of the dances.”

Cokata Upo! is composed of three parts, each with a storyline that pretty much mirrors the classic Charles Dickens tale, “A Christmas Carol” — with the Christmas theme replaced and updated, of course.

“Birth of a Nation” contains the focus of the Lakota’s creation stories. “Death and Rebirth” depicts the turmoil of the Lakota’s present movement and lifestyle. And “All Nations Are One” is the hope for a united future among the Lakota.

“It’s going to talk about the birth of a nation,” said Smith. “How the lands broke apart, how the different tribes came together to form the nation and the eagle flag with the seven feathers and what it represents. Part of the goal in performance is to keep this alive.”